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It was a rough weekend for Providence. The Friars took a beating at Villanova on Sunday night after getting news on Saturday that highly-touted freshman Brandon Austin would be transferring from the school. Austin had yet to play a single minute in a Providence uniform because he was suspended before the season (along with fellow freshman Rodney Bullock) for breaking school rules. His departure hurts the Friars’ future prospects considerably, as he was poised to take on a major role next year with the personnel losses of seniors Bryce Cotton and Kadeem Batts. This is on top of the injury to Kris Dunn, which will keep him out for the rest of the season. It is unfortunate that a year that looked so promising has turned into an 0-2 start in conference play with a postseaon berth looking increasingly unlikely.

Last year’s Wisconsin Mr. Basketball, Luke Fischer, a player who decided to attend Indiana over Creighton and Marquette, decided to transfer last week. He took a few days to decide and ultimately picked Marquette over Creighton and Milwaukee as his next destination. Fischer played high school an hour away from Milwaukee and will have the chance to contribute with the Golden Eagles immediately. He will have to sit out until the end of the fall semester, but he will have two -and-a-half seasons upon his return. Anonymous Eagle breaks down the transfer details as well as the scholarship situation for Marquette, which looks like one of the someone will not be making it onto campus next year unless a current player transfers. Paint Touches breaks down the impact and importance of the transfer, as Fischer is expected to fill a big void in the frontcourt with Chris Otule, Davante Gardner and Jamil Wilson graduating.

Seton Hall started Big East play with an overtime win over Providence, but senior leader Eugene Teague looks like he will be out a while dealing with effects from a concussion he suffered a week ago against Lafayette. Teague was still feeling post-concussion symptoms last Thursday, with head coach Kevin Willard saying that he “is going to be out for awhile, that’s just the way it is. He took a really hard fall, and we’re going to be extra cautious and do what’s best for him. Whether its a week, two weeks, three weeks, we just don’t know and we really have to be careful with him and do what’s in his best interest.” The senior is one of the Pirates’ best players and the lack of his presence in the post hurts Seton Hall considerably. Willard has to decide quickly whether he wants to burn freshman Rashed Anthony‘s redshirt to add a big body inside, because it is going to be difficult to play without a center with a very tough stretch against Villanova, Marquette and Georgetown coming up, all in the next two weeks.

Villanova played masterfully against Providence on Sunday but survived a major scare during the blowout victory. Halfway through the second half and with the win already in the bag, Wildcats’ Ryan Arcidiacono and Dylan Ennis ran into each other, leaving the former dazed requiring help to the bench. After being examined by the trainer, he was luckily able to return to action and help the Wildcats finish off the win. Jay Wright assured everyone that “Arch” is just fine. He shot the ball well and hopes to get out of a slump so far this season. After shooting 32 percent from beyond the arc last year, he has slipped to a chilly 25 percent this season. If he can get things going with his jumper, it will be hard for teams to stop the Wildcats as they have a versatile offense that can create points in a number of ways.

Creighton‘s Sports Information Director, Rob Anderson, tweeted out some very interesting stats this weekend as Omaha froze over. Greg McDermott’s program has started 12-2 or 13-1 for the third straight year, and for the fifth time since 2002-03. The only other teams to do that are Syracuse, Missouri, Illinois, Gonzaga and Louisville. To have accomplished strong starts to the season so many times speaks to the consistently high level the team has performed the past decade, joining a number of schools with great basketball history and tradition. Anderson also pointed out how well the Bluejays’ offense performed against San Diego State back in November. Creighton is the only team to score more than 65 points against them this season other than top-ranked Arizona (69), and the Bluejays averaged 1.123 points per possession in that contest. Creighton has climbed the RPI ratings as well, and now sit at 22nd in America. At 2-0 in league play and looking like a team running on all cylinders, the rest of the Big East should be on notice that this team is not going to be intimidated by anything.

As the majority of college hoops fans watched the Champions Classic in Chicago, Marquettewon its second game of the season in a dismantling of Grambling State prior to Saturday’s big upcoming match-up with Ohio State. Grambling hasn’t won a game in over a full year so it was interesting to see Marquette schedule such a team with horrible RPI implications. The most impressive player on the night was freshman Deonte Burton. Burton is a physical specimen who got off to a slow start but in the second half came on strong to finish with 14 points and six rebounds. He could play a role coming off the bench to provide defense and rebounding as well as an ability to provide offense from the foul line extended. As Buzz Williams figures out the rotation for the season, Burton will be an interesting case study because of the tools he brings to the lineup.

Some personnel news came through on Tuesday, as Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard announced that freshman Rashed Anthony will redshirt this season, and St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin announced that Felix Balamou and David Lipscomb will also be redshirted. The Pirates and Red Storm have plenty of depth at each of their positions and the players could use the time to develop their bodies and skills through a year of practice. Willard specifically said that Anthony could get become a better player with a year of physical and technical development. The Red Storm’s Balamou would have had difficulty getting minutes this year, but next year will have a great shot to earn significant playing time after several players at his position graduate.

Doug McDermott turned in quite the performance on Monday night against the UMKC. In only 28 minutes of action, he scored 37 points in a variety of ways — hitting threes, runners, post-ups, pull up jumpers — and it was a joy to watch. ESPN.com‘s Myron Medcalf wrote a piece on McDermott and his rising stardom. McDermott is already a bona fide star, but he does not receive much attention because of his humble personality. He certainly is deserving of the kind of attention that players like Marcus Smart and Andrew Wiggins receive, but he plays for a Jesuit school in Omaha and was not a particularly big time recruit. Hopefully his final season at Creighton and playing in some of the major media markets of the Big East will help elevate his place in the college basketball world, as pundits and fans realize how special a talent he is.

The John Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 players list was announced yesterday and the Big East is represented by two players, Doug McDermott and Semaj Christon. McDermott is looking to become the first three-time Wooden Award All-American since Tyler Hansbrough. It is Christon’s first time on the list and he is also a candidate for the Bob Cousy Award, recognizing the nation’s top point guard. McDermott is a near-lock to make the 10 player All-American team and will be fighting with several other stars all season to win the National Player of the Year Award. Christon is a player who could sneak up on people and make a run for one of the 10 spots if he has a big season at Xavier, and he already has the Musketeers off to a good 2-0 start.

Xavier pulled out a big win last night over Tennessee at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati. This is an impressive early season win for Chris Mack’s team that has been battling the injury bug and wasn’t completely sure who would be suiting up for the game. Semaj Christon led the way, but two unsung heroes who were pivotal in securing the win were Matt Stainbrook and Erik Stenger. The duo combined for 18 points and 16 rebounds on a night where points came at a premium and the play was sloppy. Stainbrook played great defense in the low post and Stenger brought great energy and hustle throughout the night. It seemed like whenever Stenger was on the court, he was constantly active and making plays. Christon is Xavier’s go-to scorer and the unquestioned leader, but other players like Stainbrook, Stenger, and Myles Davis will determine in the end if Xavier is a contender or a pretender.